U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels has come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Along with his partner, Chuck Aule, he sets out to find an escaped patient, a murderess named Rachel Solando, as a hurricane bears down upon them.

But nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is what it seems.

And neither is Teddy Daniels.

Is he there to find a missing patient? Or has he been sent to look into rumors of Ashecliffes radical approach to psychiatry? An approach that may include drug experimentation, hideous surgical trials, and lethal countermoves in the shadow war against Soviet brainwashing. . . .

Or is there another, more personal reason why he has come there?

As the investigation deepens, the questions only mount:

How has a barefoot woman escaped the island from a locked room?

Who is leaving clues in the form of cryptic codes?

Why is there no record of a patient committed there just one year before?

What really goes on in Ward C?

Why is an empty lighthouse surrounded by an electrified fence and armed guards?

The closer Teddy and Chuck get to the truth, the more elusive it becomes, and the more they begin to believe that they may never leave Shutter Island.Because someone is trying to drive them insane. . . .

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Know this: Lehane's new novel, his first since the highly praised and bestselling Mystic River, carries an ending so shocking yet so faithful to what has come before, that it will go down as one of the most aesthetically right resolutions ever written. But as anyone who has read him knows, Lehane, despite his mastery of the mechanics of suspense, is about much more than twists; here, he's in pursuit of the nature of self-knowledge and self-deception, and the ways in which both can be warped by violence and evil. In summer 1954, two U.S. marshals, protagonist Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, arrive on Shutter Island, not far from Boston, to investigate the disappearance of patient Rachel Solando from the prison/hospital for the criminally insane that dominates the island. The marshals' digging gets them nowhere fast as they learn of Rachel's apparently miraculous escape past locked doors and myriad guards, and as they encounter roadblocks and lies strewn across their path-most notably by the hospital's chief physician, the enigmatic J. Cawley-and pick up hints of illegal brain surgery performed at the hospital. Then, as a major hurricane bears down on the island, inciting a riot among the insane and cutting off all access to the mainland, they begin to fear for their lives. All of the characters-particularly Teddy, haunted by the tragic death of his wife-are wonderful creations, but no more wonderful than the spot-on dialogue with which Lehane brings them to life and the marvelous prose that enriches the narrative. There are mysteries within mysteries in this novel, some as obvious as the numerical codes that the missing patient leaves behind and which Teddy, a code breaker in WWII, must solve; some as deep as the most profound fears of the human heart. There is no mystery, however, about how good this book is; like Mystic River, it's a tour de force. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Most helpful customer reviews

Not as detailed as the novel, obviously, but graphic novels don't need as many words because they include illustrations. The graphics are well-done, if a little bleak and monochromatic. It makes sense with the genre and themes, but seeing some shocking colour every now and then (like some red) would've been interesting. Nevertheless, it's done quite well.

As for the story, it is simplified, but not overly so. You can still grasp all of the important details in the story. It moves more quickly than the novel does because you can see the descriptions of the buildings and the characters rather than reading about them, but still seems very well-paced. It's never too rushed. There's a lot more character development than you would think would be in a graphic novel of only 100-something pages.

There are some twists throughout the story. Some of them may feel familiar to you if you've seen any number of popular films from the last few decades. However, it's not quite done in the same, menacing way as what you will read in this book. Some of the scenes are truly weird.

I've just finished reading this page-turner and it was absolutely mind-blowing. I couldn't put it down, and after I finished it, I went back and re-read the first few chapters to pick up on clues I missed.

The book starts out slow over the first few pages with a flashback and Lehane uses many more flashbacks during the novel that I initially thought slowed down the story.

I won't spoil anything, but the story is crafted wonderfully and every scene becomes relevant as the ending unfolds.

This is a great book for the reader who likes a surprise. I thought I had guessed the outcome of many situations and the author managed to flip them around on me still.

I definitely recommened Shutter Island (and I agree with a previous reviwere who suggested finding someone else who has read the book so you can discuss it when you finish). It is something that you will think about long after finishing.

A couple of Federal Marshalls arrive on an isolated island that houses a high-security Federal prison for criminally insane. They were summoned to investigate a disappearance of a female inmate. They start suspecting that the staff of the prison is not as cooperative as they could be, and Marshalls start suspecting that behind the façade of the mental institution there is a much more sinister operation. This in a nutshell, without giving away any plot details, is the premise of the latest Dennis Lahene novel.

The plot description in itself does not even begin to do the justice to this gripping and harrowing story. Until now I have only been familiar with Lahene through the movie adaptations of his novels, and Shutter Island has also been made into a movie that will scheduled to come out in a couple of months. The previews of the movie seemed very intriguing, and they spurred me to take a look at the novel itself. I was not disappointed in the least. "Shutter Island" has all the elements of a great novel: an intriguing story with many plot twists, a flowing narrative that keeps you interested and guides you from one scene to another, rich, fully developed characters, and an ending that will both surprise you and satisfy you, and make you want to go back and reread the whole novel. The novel is a psychological thriller in two senses of the term. You are constantly intrigued by the states of mind of the main character and much of the most interesting scenes are in the minds of the main characters. Furthermore, by setting the novel in a mental institution the psychological and psychiatric profession becomes a major part of the story. Even so, the narrative evokes some very strong visual impressions, and there is no doubt that it will make a great movie.Read more ›

This is a highly original thriller with gothic overtones. Taking place in 1954, it is quite atmospheric and redolent of the times. The writing is taut, and the suspense is palpable. With many twists and turns the reader is pulled in, slowly but surely, into a virtual labyrinth of a mystery.

When United States Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, arrive on Shutter Island, little does Teddy know how utterly puzzling his visit will become. He is there to visit a hospital for the criminally insane to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Rachel Solando, a killer who escaped from a locked guarded room.

During his visit, strange little tidbits of information come to the fore, and nothing appears to be quite what it seems. Even the common place seems to take on sinister overtones, as Teddy pushes his investigation. His own past seems to have some bearing on the events that transpire. Even his partner seems to be a tad off the mark.

Just what is going on at Shutter Island? The author will lead the reader a merry and complex chase, as one layer after another s peeled back to reveal the truth behind Shutter Island and Teddy's investigation.

In the summer of 1954, US Marshal Teddy Daniels travels to Shutter Island, home of the Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Together with his partner, Chuck Aule, Teddy sets out to find an escaped psychotic patient named Rachel Solando. Apparently, Rachel Solando has managed to escape from a locked cell, walk past a group of orderlies and get past two guarded checkpoints. Given that it would be impossible for her to swim from the island to the mainland, she must be somewhere on the island. But where is she? Is there an answer in the cryptic coded message that she has left behind?

The mystery in this novel is not only about Rachel Solando. Teddy Daniels was very keen to accept this particular assignment and despite his fear of water - which made the ferry trip a nightmare for him - has his own reasons for wanting to be on Shutter Island. His wife's murderer is on the island as well, and he is keen to find him. Teddy Daniels is also curious about what goes on at Shutter Island: there are three wards housed in separate buildings and an apparently empty lighthouse is surrounded by an electrified fence and armed guards. Why?

When Chuck Aule disappears, it seems to confirm that Teddy Daniels's own life is also in jeopardy. But why? And why are the doctors not completely co-operating with the investigation? What is the truth about Shutter Island?

The hurricane that sweeps over Shutter Island provides the perfect backdrop to the story. And the ending? It took me by surprise, and then it made its own form of perfect sense. Maybe.

`They're creating ghosts here, Marshal. Ghosts to go out into the world and do ghostly work.'